I try to have an open mind and accept people, but I just don't understand how you can deny or refuse to accept the gender you were born with. I never had a problem with gays and lesbians, because I'm convinced that you DO NOT choose who you are attracted to. I never had that choice, nor have a met any heterosexuals who've admitted to choosing who they were attracted to and who they weren't. However, you can't be born as a male (or female), then expect society to embrace your denial of actually being that gender, and on top of that help pay for it. I also don't understand how the ardent "science is real" bumper sticker-yielding crowd (typically progressives) ignore this very assertion when it comes to transgender issues.

I try to have an open mind and accept people, but I just don't understand how you can deny or refuse to accept the gender you were born with. I never had a problem with gays and lesbians, because I'm convinced that you DO NOT choose who you are attracted to. I never had that choice, nor have a met any heterosexuals who've admitted to choosing who they were attracted to and who they weren't. However, you can't be born as a male (or female), then expect society to embrace your denial of actually being that gender, and on top of that help pay for it. I also don't understand how the ardent "science is real" bumper sticker-yielding crowd (typically progressives) ignore this very assertion when it comes to transgender issues.

The part i can never understand is how is saying "I am not the gender i was born into" NOT the same sort of 'insanity" as someone claiming "I am Napoleon", or the like???
Why is one considered "lets lock him up for his own good", while the OTHER gets 'celebrated', and if you don't celebrate it right along with everyone else, you must be a bigot, and we will hound you online/via the courts?

I don't agree with everyone's lifestyle choices (I don't drink, don't smoke / dip, not into porn, voluntarily wake up early and hit bed early, go to church every week etc.) nor do I expect them to agree with mine. I do believe in treating everyone with respect, whether or not their personal choices align with mine. It isn't my place to judge. However, too many people take a lack of overt condemnation as acceptance, endorsement or support for an issue.

There are definite readiness issues / concerns with transgendered people in the military, most of which had been addressed, the biggest one was the amount of time to effectively migrate from 'untreated gender dysphoria' to sufficient 'gender reassignment' as there are varying degrees of what satisfies being treated (ie. not all transgendered people want to physically change their genitalia). The most drastic timeline -- full blown physical gender assignment is generally 34 months accounting for diagnosis, counseling, gender living / assumption, hormone treatment, and ultimately the series of operations that changes physical 'stuff' and then ultimate recovery. From a military perspective, the 34 months of non-deployability is not really workable. That said, in the case of someone who doesn't need full physical transformation, it could be 12 months, which that period of non-deployability is workable. There are transgendered people who can do high stress, insense jobs just fine, there are some that deal with a myriad of issues, by and large, I think I have known a similar percentage of people in the military who had some sort of mental health, social issue etc. that were or were not transgendered.

Bottom line for me: From a work perspective, if someone can do their job, I really don't care about their personal life, but their personal decisions may hinder whether or not I try to socialize with them.

FWIW, for some time I have thought if someone had enough issues going on inside them that they felt it necessary to assume the opposite gender, the last thing they need is me giving them additional woes.

The most important six inches on the battlefield ... is between your ears.

The part i can never understand is how is saying "I am not the gender i was born into" NOT the same sort of 'insanity" as someone claiming "I am Napoleon", or the like???
Why is one considered "lets lock him up for his own good", while the OTHER gets 'celebrated', and if you don't celebrate it right along with everyone else, you must be a bigot, and we will hound you online/via the courts?

There are many different cases and symptoms that help explain reasons behind gender identity disorder or people choosing to go through treatment or therapy. Educate yourself. Also, you don't have to "celebrate it." Accepting them as people and not demonizing them will suffice.

Well, that's not how many institutions feel about it, you DO have to celebrate it....or will at some point. Just take a look at how the military has embraced "fill in the blank" months, diversity days, pride days, etc. These are celebratory events where YOU ARE EXPECTED to support. So yeah, you are expected to celebrate it.

I do believe in treating everyone with respect, whether or not their personal choices align with mine. It isn't my place to judge.

I agree in treating everyone with respect, but many people have varying definitions of what that actually entails. To me, the respect ends at the very point I feel threatened (professionally, physically, politically, economically, etc). And yes, I am judgmental. We are all judgmental. To have an opposing opinion is to judge. I think perhaps we should insist on kindness vs respect.